


Burning Book

by latenightiridescence



Category: Konjiki no Gash!! | Zatch Bell!, Toriko (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Angst, Drabble, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25167262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/latenightiridescence/pseuds/latenightiridescence
Summary: All he can do is clutch the bloody, tattered shirt in his hands and cry as Toriko slips away to a place he cannot follow, their promise of a throne and a golden future in ruins.(An AU fusion with Gash Bell.)
Relationships: Komatsu & Toriko (Toriko)
Kudos: 9





	Burning Book

**Author's Note:**

  * For [QueenSchnee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenSchnee/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Burning Book](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/645736) by QueenSchnee. 



> This is based off an incredible piece of art by the amazing QueenSchnee, who broke my heart. So I broke her's back. :)
> 
> You don't need to know too much about Gash, only that a hundred demons with spell books from another dimension come to Earth every 1000 years and fight to become king of their world alongside a single book-chosen human partner, who read the out spells. A demon without a human partner can't use their powers. And when the book is burned, the demon is forcefully sent home...

The flame starts out so small Komatsu doesn’t notice it at first, too busy trying to keep his left leg from collapsing under him. Blood and sweat run down his face in rivulets, forcing him to squint to keep from going blind. It doesn’t help, because the world is swimming through a thin film of tears.

It isn’t until the heat licks at his fingers and Komatsu almost drops the book - this precious treasure he swore to protect no matter what - that he sees the flames eating away at it, flowing slowly outward from the corner he failed to press against his chest fast enough. He just stares, too shocked to move even though the enemy ( _friendrivaltraitor_ ) is standing far too close, until Toriko drops heavily the ground, panting for breath, and rests an arm - already growing transparent, it’s happening too fast, _far too fast_ \- around Komatsu’s trembling shoulders.

“It’s over, Komatsu,” he says, pulls the small human into his lap. “Let go before you burn yourself.”

For a moment, Komatsu considers refusing. More than once, he’s seen a book master cling to their book as it burned to nothing in their arms, but then it occurs to him what a foolish thing that is. It isn’t the book he should be holding, but the demon. So Komatsu lets it fall from his fingers, that beautiful blue he’s always associated with the place where cloudless sky and sea meet, with freedom and affection and _Toriko_ , and presses close to his partner instead, throws his arms around Toriko’s shoulders and hangs on for dear life. Behind them, scathing laughter rings out.

This is all too sudden; there’s so much he wants to say, so much more he wants to do with the demon that is the other half of his heart, but in the end all he can do is clutch the bloody, tattered shirt in his hands and cry as Toriko slips away from him to a place he cannot follow, their promise of a throne and a golden future in ruins.

“Hey, now.” Toriko’s voice is a low rumble against his ear, and it’s been two years since Komatsu first heard it, but that’s no time at all. He’s not ready to say goodbye. “We knew this would happen eventually.”

Komatsu just shakes his head and holds tighter.

Faintly, he can hear the calls of their friends, too late now. Ume screams, raw and truly angry for, perhaps, the first time since they met. The poisonous red light from the book he shares with Coco is so bright it filters through Komatsu’s squeezed shut eyes. Melk and Nono are there as well, sharp silver and the sound of steel on steel.

None of that matters. Komatsu’s world narrows to the huge, rough fingers in his hair, stroking so gently, and the brush of lips against the top of his head, until the lights fade and the dissipating remnants of heat from Toriko’s body leave him shivering with cold. His arms are empty.

When Komatsu finally opens his eyes and turns around, Ootake and Starjun are gone. Only the blackened patch of grass at his feet and a broken mask remain.


End file.
